How do you calibrate your monitors?

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Chrisroman

Gawd
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May 29, 2011
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I recently upgraded to an eyefinity setup and the lack of calibration is driving me crazy. How do you calibrate your monitors and how, for example, are ICC profiles handled in eyefinity?

Also does calibration need to be redone if I change to a different GPU?
 
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Look for a good review of the monitor you bought and see if they give you the settings that look best then tweak from that starting point.
 
I did try that, and the results were better than the factory settings. But I have brightness set to 26, 29, 14 on each respective monitor. Way too bright. I'm thinking with a proper calibration tool I can get the luminosity down to a more comfortable level.

on the preset sRGB setting. One screen looked very blue, the other red and the third green. It wasnt noticable when viewing each one individually, but when next to each other I could see it. Not impressed with the factory RGB settings (Dell u3011).
 
Same with me, I recently bought a Dell U2312HM to put beside my U2410. The U2312 for some reason looks pinkish. (Now I don't know which one of my monitors is not correct - or if both are messed).
 
It drove me crazy to calibrate my old 4 monitor setup. In the end, it's just too hard if they are not identical. If I were to go back to multi-monitors, I would choose the exact same model and must have a good viewing angle (IPS, PLS, etc.)
 
i'm subscribing to this thread as i'd like to know about a good way to calibrate a monitor...
 
For good calibration you want to use a colorimeter like the X-Rite i1 Display 2. I got one and use it to calibrate CRTs and LCDs with, some of them for colour-critical work. It's pretty much the best calibration you can get without spending a lot of money.
 
I have the hardware equivalent of the i1Display 2, which was the best solution for the price at the time.

I've read that it can sometimes be found for significantly less than $100 now, often on ebay. If you're able to find one in good condition, that would be the best deal IMO. Note that this type of hardware does degrade with use over time.

X-rite has replaced the i1D2 with the i1Display Pro, which is a better solution. It's also more expensive. I've read about some complaints with this new model, but it's still supposedly better. Some people are using it with ArgyllCMS and Dispcalgui (open source calibration software). I actually use that software as well...

So in order, from least expensive/effective to most:

1. Find as many online reviews and calibration settings as possible for your display, and work from there.
2. Buy an i1D2
3. Buy a i1Dpro

Meh... I think option 1 is good enough if you're not doing anything color-critical (which I'm not), and option 2 can get somewhat close to option 3... knowing the general measurement differences between the i1D2 and i1Dpro can help to "calibrate the calibrator" a bit, somewhat lessening the performance gap.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1639675 - Here...this was the thread that originally alerted me to the existence of the i1Dpro.
 
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I like the i1D2 for non colour-critical work as well as it is a real time-saver. Most of the calibration is automated and you get guaranteed good results.
 
I use an i1D2, it helped me straighten out color discrepancies between my U3011 and three different 2007fp refurbs (no easy task). The 2007fps are in eyefinity, and it seems to work fine, because Windows still knows them as separate displays for color management. When I'm done with the calibration through the Gretag software, it looks great, but when I switch to my HDTV output, then back again, the colors seems to get off again, like the .icc profiles aren't being used. Reloading the profiles in Windows color management doesn't bring them back, either. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

Don't mean to hijack your thread, but just be aware of some of the difficulties in matching colors (even with a proper calorimeter) on displays that aren't identical - particularly on displays that have the capability to display various gamuts, even if you're not using their extended gamut modes.
 
Magnus_Dx said:
Do you actually modify the monitors settings, or are you modifying windows settings?

IE: After using this, is the monitor set properly even if you move it to another PC?
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They're windows settings - after a calibration, a color "map" is created in the form of an .icc file, and windows basically applies all the colors that software says to display through that file for display on each monitor. It's a very imperfect system though. Far from being able to do what you asked about (stay with the monitor as a built in profile), they actually only apply as long as the software will accept color management. Luckily, Windows does for all desktop use, as do most photo editing apps and such. On the other hand, I don't think this kind of thing does anything at all in games and most other software, most of which don't support color management.
 
Ahh ok thanks Neon.

Are there products out there that will simply help me adjust the monitors own settings to help get it closer to ideal?

I'm not a photo editor, so I don't need perfect.
 
Magnus_Dx said:
Ahh ok thanks Neon.

Are there products out there that will simply help me adjust the monitors own settings to help get it closer to ideal?

I'm not a photo editor, so I don't need perfect.
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These pages are pretty helpful: http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/

Also, just using your built in Windows 7 calibration. Doing it without a dedicated calorimeter is definitely tougher though. The win 7 calibration has a decent (for naked eye adjustment, that is) gamma setting ability, which is key for any calibration.

But going back to what I said before about all the adjustments being part of a file - that's not entirely true. As you've indicated, depending on your monitor, it's possible that you can certainly make the RGB color temp, brightness (black level), and contrast (highlights) adjustments with the built in monitor functions. Still, what makes it hard is that you're doing it by eye, whereas with the calorimeter it's comparing those aspects to reference standards.
 
Slightly off-topc, but are colorimeters like the i1D2 of any use for calibrating a TV when not used for PC purposes (cable, consoles, etc)? I recently had my 5-year old Samsung LCD TV calibrated by an ISF-certified technication, and while the results were well worth the price of admission, I'm wondering if these colorimeters can be put to use to get a similar/cheaper result.

From what I've read in this thread so far, it doesn't sound like it, but wanted to ask the question to be sure anyway.
 
Mabu said:
Slightly off-topc, but are colorimeters like the i1D2 of any use for calibrating a TV when not used for PC purposes (cable, consoles, etc)? I recently had my 5-year old Samsung LCD TV calibrated by an ISF-certified technication, and while the results were well worth the price of admission, I'm wondering if these colorimeters can be put to use to get a similar/cheaper result.

From what I've read in this thread so far, it doesn't sound like it, but wanted to ask the question to be sure anyway.
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Absolutely, you can. I did this very thing with my i1D2 to calibrate my Kuro plasma. The only thing you really need is some kind of software that will help you interpret the data that the calorimeter is putting out, and give you some kind of guide as to where that is relative to the reference standard. ColorHCFR is a freeware tool that does just that. Here's some detail about it:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=983943

The only other wrinkle is that you need to be very familiar with your TV's service menus and so forth. That is, unless you have a great TV that's very friendly to calibrators where you don't have to go into hidden menus to access the controls.
 
Elledan said:
For good calibration you want to use a colorimeter like the X-Rite i1 Display 2. I got one and use it to calibrate CRTs and LCDs with, some of them for colour-critical work. It's pretty much the best calibration you can get without spending a lot of money.
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X-Rite?

It all depends on budget and what you are looking for.

For instance. When I was at Best Buy corporate, we used

http://sensing.konicaminolta.us/products/ca-2000-2d-color-analyzer/

and

http://sensing.konicaminolta.us/products/ca-310-color-analyzer/

for the Color calibration of LED TV, LCD, Plasma that where being developed by Insignia, Dynex etc. We also used it to compare our color neautrality against Samsung panel, AUO panel, Hisign etc.

Invaluable tool.

That tool WILL get you to what ever K you are looking for, even 12k (Yes, lots of LED TV have a 12K setting, the "demo" mode).
 
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For calibrating an HDTV, it looks like the only options are CalMAN ($200+meter), ChromaPure ($200+meter), or ColorHCFR (freeware).

CalMAN seems to be the standard calibration software. It has a pretty clean interface, and solid hardware support, but it seems to have a complex licensing model. Various features require additional licenses.

ChromaPure is a bit newer, and probably works as well as CalMAN, but has a pretty ugly interface. Of course, the interface doesn't matter if the performance is there. Hardware support appears to be tied to specific license-levels of the software, with standard covering most of the inexpensive meters, and professional covering the business-grade meters.

ColorHCFR is no longer being updated and has limited hardware support. I've read that it works best under Windows XP, and that they suggest running it in XP-mode for compatibility. I can't have much faith in such an application.
 
Gigas-VII said:
For calibrating an HDTV, it looks like the only options are CalMAN ($200+meter), ChromaPure ($200+meter), or ColorHCFR (freeware).
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Only options?

Nah.

Those I posted are options (it is what Dell, Samsung, Pioneer, Sony etc use at the factories as standard white balance and color spectrometry equipment).

$60,000 and $5,000+ options but options none the less. ;)

Then there are others from Sencore, Chroma, Anahiem Scientific.. list is actually huge especially when dealing with the Professional equipment.
 
figgie said:
Only options?

Nah.

Those I posted are options (it is what Dell, Samsung, Pioneer, Sony etc use at the factories as standard white balance and color spectrometry equipment).

$60,000 and $5,000+ options but options none the less. ;)

Then there are others from Sencore, Chroma, Anahiem Scientific.. list is actually huge especially when dealing with the Professional equipment.
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The consumer, or even prosumer, is more likely to forgo calibration than to spend $5000+ on calibration equipment. Even $500 worth of equipment seems incredibly high to most people. A $100 calibrator is sufficient for 95% accuracy, is it not? The issue is, the software to perform the testing needs to provide feedback in such a way that the user can adjust the available settings.

Because only incredibly high-end calibration equipment can directly interface with a display's internal calibration, the user has to make the adjustments manually, running test after test between adjustments. The difficulty in this process is that users generally do not know how to perform tests, and do not know how to read the results. The software is designed to both perform the tests, and provide suggests solutions (increase gamma, decrease red gain, etc.) so the user can get closer to the target.

Professional equipment is irrelevant unless you are in the business of printing color images, servicing medical imaging equipment, or preparing video-walls for use. In those cases, your company probably has $5000+ to blow on performing the job correctly.

j3ff86 said:
Windows 7 calibration test + http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/.
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This is sufficient for calibrating gamma and grey-scale, but not for the various hue, chroma, saturation, or even basic whitespace adjustments. You need, at the very least, an already-calibrated source to start with, for visual comparison. One option is color cards, but then you'll be calibrating your display to the specific lighting conditions... it's all very primitive to do it that way; it works better for pigments than light. The optimal method is to measure the wavelength(s) of light being emitted by the display while specific test-patterns are shown.
 
So what do I need of I want to simply adjust the settings of the display to get it close?

Doesn't some kit come with some swatches or tools that I can compare the display to? Or a tool that says, yes, this red is real red.
 
, but then you'll be calibrating your display to the specific lighting conditions...
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Aren't you measuring using your color calibration hardware with the lights off, and right up against the display? Aren't those color measurements altered and/or polluted by ambient if not direct light during normal usage in desk spaces not designed to avoid direct lighting? So you aren't seeing with your eyeballs what you are measuring with your hardware. Monitor hoods could help depending on light source locations, but still. What I am saying is, I want my display settings adjusted for specific lighting conditions, otherwise they are only accurate in the dark right up against the screen as that is what they were tested and adjusted to be. I keep my lighting controlled at my desk, but in my living room it is more variable for my tv. I keep three sets of settings on my tv and just swap between them for that reason. Blindly following a single "standard" would not do for me. After all, its my eyes and what I see is most important to me. I'm not doing anything for print, so I could understand being extreme if you are making things for print, but again the color, contrast, etc is changed when lighting conditions change/when your screen is polluted by light.
.
 
What I am saying is, I want my display settings adjusted for specific lighting conditions,
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That's always the way to go also in the professional area. The achieved whitepoint should be visual (!) neutral regarding your color matching conditions. There is no normative correct whitepoint even if the working color spaces are defined relative to one. I'm for example using D50 normlight and calibrated my WCG-CCFL screen to 5800K which gives a good visual match for me. The second CCFL screen had to be calibrated with an other whitepoint due to metamerism effects.

Best regards

Denis
 
I finally broke down and bought the xrite i1 Display Pro. I think it does a very good job and is rather quick and easy to use. Now that I'm using multiple screens again for work and home, it is really nice to have them all match.
 
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